World War One Wiki:Manual Of Style
Welcome to the WWI Wiki’s Manual Of Style. This page serves as a rulebook and guideline list for users who edit and participate in the wiki. Below are important guidelines so that the wiki can flourish and provide the best it can. Neutral POV Our wiki is supposed to be an informative encyclopedia, and not a personal opinion blog. This means that all articles should be written with a neutral point-of-view. Phrases such as is possibly, or arguably is are better used than a plain is (except for proven facts) Remember to see anything listed from both sides and not to favor bad over good, or good over bad. Remember that false facts can also move your opinion from one side or the other. The wiki also has a guideline where pages must be written from 3rd-Person. This means that pronouns such as "I", "My", or "We" should be avoided, as they are 1st-Person. This does not apply to quotes said in 1st-person. EXAMPLE: This is a bad example of a neutral viewpoint: "The Chauchat Machine gun was a machine gun made by France. It performed awfully and is the worst gun used in the war" This is a good example of a neutral viewpoint: "The Chauchat Machine gun was a machine gun made by France. Due to the poor conditions of trenches, the Chauchat was victim to possible failures or malfunctions" Plagarism/Paraphrasing Our wiki is keen at wanting to have correct information, which is why users should write their own content. It is easy to just go to a page, copy it, and paste it here, but that is more or less plagarism. If it isn’t tolerated in the real world, it won’t be here. When you do decide to take contents from a page - paraphrase it. Paraphrasing is putting authors words into your own style so that it is easier to read along with other text. The paraphrase must be in your own words, and must be have citation(s). If you decide to use the same words as the source along with your paraphrase, then take the identical text and quote it. The most important part however, is to credit the original author. EXAMPLE: Topic: M1917 Enfield Direct quote from Wikipedia: "The M1917 Enfield, the "American Enfield", formally named "United States Rifle, cal .30, Model of 1917" was an American modification and production of the .303-inch (7.7 mm) Pattern 1914 Enfield (P14) rifle (listed in British Service as Rifle No. 3) developed and manufactured during the period 1917–1918. " Paraphrased: "The M1917 Enfield, also called the American Enfield, is a rifle produced by the United States. It was based upon the British P14 Enfield Rifle, and was made between 1917-1918." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1917_Enfield Note: There are more ways to add a citation this. See below. Citations Since the wiki is academic-based, the must have its information cited. To cite something, simply type behind the source and put the cited info in between the tags. Note that sometimes a system error may occur, so placing : References should prevent this. See this page for more ways to cite. A good rule-of-thumb is to remember that some sites are cited themselves. Wikipedia is an excellent place to get ideas from, but not to cite. Most pages that are not stubs there are cited themselves, which lead to another page. When you are citing something, keep browsing through cited resources until you find the end-point. Images Images are the ultimate source for visuals of something an article is talking about. To add an image, use the link format and type in: , with "name" being the name of the file, and "type" being it’s resolution (example: .jpg, .png, .svg, etc.). * As for sizing of imagery, it should be generally accepted that between 250px - 400px is appropriate for an article. However, it should not be too large as to squeeze text up into a word-per-line format, but also should not be too small to view. To change image size, add "|100px]]" after the filename, with the 100 being whatever number you wish. ** Infobox Images should be big enough to fit snugly into the infobox but should not be too small. Article design and consistency It is important that related articles be consistent in their design and appearance. Below is a list of article types and what is the generally accepted format. Keep in mind all have a References and No Header tag. Note: H2, H3, and H4 stand for Header types: H2 uses Text H3 uses Text and H4 uses Text . Guns No Header ' - Quick synopsis of article (H2)'Description - A description and analysis of the gun. (H2)Usage in WWI - How the gun was used in the War. (H2)Other uses - If the gun was used in other ways, such as other wars. (H2)Variants - Variants/different types of the gun. People No Header ' - Quick synopsis of article (H2)'Biography - Empty :(H3)Early life - The early life of the person, including their childhood, and up to involvement in WWI. :(H3)World War I - What the person did during the war, and their role in it :(H3)Post-war - What the person did after WWI. :(H3)Death - How and when the person passed away. Battles No Header ' - Quick synopsis of article (H2)'Pre-battle - The events leading up to the battle. (H2)Plans - None :(H3)Allied Powers - How the Allies (US, UK, France, Italy, etc) planned. :(H3)Central Powers - How the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottomans, etc) planned. (H2)Battle - How the battle itself played out. This can be put into H3 categories if it is a particularly long or unique battle. (H2)Aftermath - How the battle ended, who won the battle, casualties in the battle. Units No Header ' - Quick synopsis of article (H2)'Structure - The order of battles in a list (H2)Commanders - Any notable commanders of the unit. (H2)History - The unit’s service during the war and afterwards. Uniforms No Header - Quick synopsis of article (H2)Characteristics - The information about the uniform. :(H3)Structure - The design of the uniform, including color, features, etc. (H2)History - The usage of the uniform in the war. (H2)Variants - Variants of the uniform or later models of it. Nations No Header - Quick synopsis of article (H2)Pre-War - Important information about the nation before the war. Do not include historical standpoints about the country or its formation, unless it was crucially important or near to the start of the war. (H2)Government - The government of the country and their actions during the war. (H2)World War I - The country’s participation in the war, and what side they were allied with. Under this header can be several H3 titles. (H2)Post-War ''' - The country after the war, how it affected it, and if it changed. Ammunition '''No Header - Quick synopsis of article (H2)Development - The development of the ammunition. (H2)Usage in World War 1 - The usage of the ammo in the war. (H2)Post-War - The usage of the ammo following the war. (H2)Weapons chambered in {name of round} - What Weapons were chambered in this round. This is currently a WIP. Article completeness It’s important to make sure articles are up to date and completed. The most crucial part is to make the sure the article has all design formats (see above) and they are filled out. Secondly, the article should have a "B" or higher ranking (see below). Thirdly, the article should be sourced and have all information it should encompass. Fourthly, the article should have an infobox, although this is not a major factor for all pages. EXAMPLE: The Mark V landship was well known in the war and is featured in many depictions. The Wikipedia article is long and has several sources. However, the Wikipedia article for the Bergmann MG15nA is shorter, has less sources, and lacks any images. Article Ranking Articles will be ranked based upon. Since this is an academic project, there are standards that should be upheld. There are four major factors when it comes to ranking articles: * Does the article state what it is supposed to? * Does the article have images that display the topic? * Is the article cited and referenced? * Are the design, grammar, and categorization well-done and complete? Below are possible rankings of articles, and what should be done if it is seen. They differ in type of color. A ranking of "F" is red as in "STOP, and fix this", a ranking of "C" is yellow as in "Needs improvement", and a ranking of "A" is green for "good to go". — This article has a F rank. It is written very poorly and needs to be revised or deleted. Source: — This article has a D rank. It is written poorly and needs major improvement. Source: — This article has a C rank. It is written decently, but improvement should be done. Source: — This article has a B rank. It is written well and needs little improvement. Source: — This article has an A rank. It is written excellently and follows up to Guidelines. Source: - This article has a P rank. It is a work-in-progress and is pending. Source: If you notice an article, feel free to place a ranking that you think it is worthy of. If an article is still being worked on, place the P version. Articles in other languages Since the wiki is in its infancy right now, we will wait off international versions. However, once the time is right, linking articles to different versions can be done. To do this, go to the bottom of a page and Country:PAGENAME. The "Country" is a two letter code for the country (examples: Russia is .rs, Spain is .es, Germany is .de, Japan is .jp, etc.). It should appear like this: es:Mark V Tank. This needs to be done on both sides. More Help Feel free to view the Policies Category for more pages. Category:Help